For Sure
by savinglives44
Summary: Pepper is uncertain about her relationship with Tony Stark. She may not be sure, but Tony is. Set immediately after Iron Man 2. Chapter 5: 7 oneshots of Pepper and Tony's developing relationship: sore, pregnant, move, suit, jealousy, ring, capture.
1. Chapter 1

Uncertain

Pepper Potts had been absolutely certain most of her life. Certain about her career, certain about her choices, certain about Tony Stark. She was a calculator, logical and precise. She trusted her moral instincts when she needed to.

Now, as Tony had swept her up and was flying her home, she was not so sure. Soaring hundreds of feet above the roads and clingy to the cold, scratched metal, she did not know if she could trust herself to fall for him.

He landed her, safely and gently at his home, but that wasn't quite reassuring. In the past, he'd often taken care of her physically, yet played with her feelings.

He seemed attentive, though. "Sorry, haven't had much time to clean up."

The house was still destroyed from his fight with Rhodey, and it looked like he'd built some sort of accelerator, which reminded her, "You almost died?"

He ignored her question at first, and took her hand. "Let's see if we can find a room that I didn't blow up."

The metal of his suit clinked on the floor and she wondered if he was planning on taking it off. He headed down the hallway to the middle of the house. It seemed to be the eye of the storm- nothing was much damaged. "I know my room is shattered," he lead her into a guest room that she used to sleep in if she couldn't leave him during the night, "we can use this."

She was thrown off by how he assumed that she was staying with him. She had intended to, she supposed, but she hadn't put much thought into the next few hours. She was too concerned with how they'd both came so close to death. "Tony..." she sighed.

He let go of her hand and took off the shoulder of his suit.

"Can't you get a machine to do that?" She asked.

"I can get it," he replied and removed the gloves and the forearms. He got stuck with the chest and she helped him, wedging her small fingers in and lifting it off of him. The suit was damaged enough for him to pretty much kick off the bottom half. The boots were in pretty good shape so he had to smash them a bit to get them off.

Seeing the bruises and cuts on him, she told him that she'd be right back. The first-aid kit that she kept handy in the bathroom must have gotten thrown somewhere, so she grabbed a washcloth and wet it and took it back to their room. He was standing and waiting for her.

She grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head to get a better look at his injuries. Either his misunderstood her or chose to misunderstand her, and he took the opportunity to kiss her again. She let him, letting one hand touch the bare skin on his back, which made it difficult to step back after a few minutes.

"Let me wash some of these cuts," she said.

"Pepperrrrrrr..." he whined, sitting down on the bed.

She smiled. She couldn't stop smiling at the thought that she might have him, that they could be in a relationship. As she dabbed the blood off of his chest and back, she realized how the suit did not make him invincible. The metal still sliced and cut him, as much as it could protect him. With her hands on him, he reciprocated, touching her waist, her hips and as she worked from behind him, her knees and thighs.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She laughed," YOU are asking ME that?" She hugged him, kneeling on the bed from behind and held tight. She still wasn't completely sure of his feelings, so she didn't mention how scared she was when she heard that he was dying or how she couldn't do anything but pray for his life as he fought Ivan and the drones.

"Ouch, Pep."

She knew she wasn't hurting him too much, but she knew she probably had pushed on a sore spot so she let go. He turned around to face her.

"Never, never, never ever again are you allowed to not tell me if you are dying."

"I'm better now," he gave her a small smile and held her hand.

She like the feeling of his skin on her hand much better than the harsh, fire resistant gloves of the suit. She placed her other hand over the arc reactor in his chest and felt it working hard to keep him alive. In that moment, the realities of what had happened in the past day hit her and she bowed her head to his shoulder, sighing heavily.

"It'll all right." He turned and lifted his legs on to the bed, lying down. He pulled Pepper on top of him. "We're all right, see? I would never let anything happen to you."

She felt tears burning in her eyes and threatening to spill. She didn't want him to see her cry though, so she closed her eyes and kissed him. She put more power into it than they'd experienced before. His hand slid under her shirt and massaged her lower back as she pressed her lips into his hard. She moved for a second to breathe and then approached him with an open mouth, so he could easily slip his tongue it.

It felt so good to finally be kissing him, but she wondered how far they could take it. Kissing was fine. Kissing could be forgotten, but if they had sex, she'd never forget. If they had sex and he left her, chalked it up to an emotional affair after saving her life, she would never be able to get over it.

She was hesitant and uncertain, and for good reasons, according to her logic. Tony wasn't the most reliable.

But she loved him.

It was a difficult decision, as she feared that she wasn't taking advantage of an ultimately good thing. "Tony." She broke the kiss, panting. "I don't know if this is such a good idea tonight. We're emotional right now..."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Am I sure?"

"Are you sure you don't want to do this?"

He was impossible to read. She couldn't tell if he was disappointed or not. She kissed him again, just to see if that would give her any clarity.

It didn't. If anything, kissing made her head more fuzzy and she couldn't concentrate and then his hands started to hook into the waistband of her skirt. She felt them inching down and she halted him. "Stop."

"Thank goodness." He seemed so relieved and took his hands away.

She was so confused. He didn't want to have sex with her? That was slightly discouraging, but also relieving because it gave her more time to think about what she really wanted.

"I want you. I'm just fucking exhausted." He rubbed his face and suddenly she realized how tired he was. "I just don't think I'd be up to par tonight. Saving the city takes a lot out of me. Not that I wouldn't be good."

"I'm tired too," she said, feeling slightly bad that she wasn't going to tell him the true reason for her hesitancy.

"Let's just sleep tonight and we'll figure things out in the morning."

That sounded perfect to Pepper. "Sounds good." She sat up and thought about removing her shirt, but he'd never seen her even half-naked, and she was not sure what he would think. She played with the buttons on her shirt for a while, thinking it over before he sat up.

"What are you doing?"

"Deciding whether to sleep in my shirt or not." She really didn't want to. It was tight and uncomfortable, but so was her bra and she didn't want to sleep completely naked. "Is it distracting for you if my shirt is off?" She didn't want to sound too arrogant, because really, she had no idea what he thought of her. He might have complimented her a few times over the years, but mostly, it was when he was drunk.

"Yes, yes. It is absolutely distracting." He laughed and smiled. "Let's see if we can't find you a shirt." He walked down the hallway to his bedroom.

It would take them months to clean up, she decided. He brushed debris off of his dresser and opened up a drawer. "One large t-shirt for you." He handed it to her nicely folded.

She began unbuttoning her shirt. "Is this your dresser of shirts to give away to the girls that you sleep with?" She supposed that it wasn't the kindest remark, but it was likely to be true, and she had to watch him with all those women year after year.

As her bra was revealed, he couldn't say anything, but just dropped his head to her shoulder to kiss it. He inched one of her bra straps down and she stepped away. "Ahh. I knew it would be distracting. You need to get some sleep," she reminded him. She put his shirt on and took off her bra and skirt underneath it.

"Thank you," she said.

He kissed her again, softly, but then she held him to her and it turned deeper.

"Let's just kiss all the time," he suggested. "I'll quit my job, and you already quit yours."

"Okay," she led him back down the hallway with her lips. "You want to sleep in the same bed?" she asked.

"Of course," to him, it wasn't even a question. "You almost got destroyed tonight. I'm never letting you out of my sight. Out of where I can protect you from."

"Thank you," she said again. They both collapsed onto the bed.

She scooted under the covers. "Come on," she told him.

He removed his pants, leaving himself in boxers. She almost groaned, she wanted him so badly.

"We can make it," he encouraged and he laid down and wrapped his legs around hers, entangling her. She listened to the arc reactor and knew she could fall asleep with the constant hum reminding her of Tony's life.

* * *

A/N: I don't own the characters. I will probably write a sequel from Tony's POV. In this story, I assume that Tony and Pepper have basically known each other since high school and she has been working for him ever sense.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony Stark woke up with a faint smile on his face. He inhaled the smell of Pepper and buried his face in her neck.

He had never been more certain about anything in his life.

Tony was certain about most things, even about his gut instincts. He trusted his wide breadth of knowledge, which served him well in split-second decisions or in complicated problems. But with Pepper, he wasn't just mindfully certain. He felt it in his whole body, complete thankfulness for her.

He yearned to stretch out and explore this new certain-ness that he was experiencing. But she wasn't awake yet.

He tightened his arm around her, getting as close as possible. "Pepper."

She yawned and turned her head to look at him. She smiled broadly as well.

They'd never waken up together like this. It was new and he _liked_ it. He was certain he'd be doing this for the rest of his life.

"Hello," she said.

He was tired of smiling so much, so it was time to kiss her. He nuzzled her cheek with his and placed his lips on hers. His hand stroked her hip, testing to see if she wanted more.

Nothing progressed. She was content to just be kissing him, which was fine. He wasn't looking to turn this into a one night stand. Or a one morning stand, for that matter.

He broke it off. "Okay." He jumped out of bed. "I am making pancakes for you..." And eggs and sausage and everything she'd always made for him. Now he could reciprocate. His brain was spinning with options, and then he realized it was actually spinning and he was getting dizzy and about to pass out and he fell forward onto the bed.

"Tony," she said, mildly concerned.

"I'm okay." He wanted to try again, but his body wouldn't let him. He was still _so _sore from the previous night.

"You're not. Come back to bed."

When she said it like that, he was eager to comply. He crawled back up to her. She'd sat up and he rested his head in her lap.

"Iron Man, what am I going to do with you?" She ran her fingers through his hair.

"Uhh...just that." She felt so good.

"Shall we not get out of bed today?"

_Yes..._ he thought, and then groaned as he remembered. "I can't. I have a job interview today."

"A job interview?" She ran her hands over his back, reminding him of his injuries. "You are in no condition to go to any job interview."

That was besides the point. It was pathetic to think that he had a job interview. Anyone who wanted to know anything about him just needed to watch the five o'clock news. But this wasn't quite a normal job. "It won't take long. I'll tell you about it later, Pep. Let's just rest for five minutes."

"Okay." She let her nails trail along his neck for about a minute. "Are we going to be in a relationship now?"

He stopped himself from laughing- his first reaction to the awkward question. It was fair and necessary of her to ask him, to want to be absolutely certain of what they were doing. "Yes, Pepper. Yes, we are." He smiled and tilted his head up just a bit and she brought hers down to kiss him.

"Why do you want to be in a relationship with me, after all these years?"

Another fair question that he didn't really want to answer. But, he was making a renewed effort. After she'd so blatantly rejected him in her office when he'd given her the strawberries, he had to be careful not to hurt her. "I almost died. It was like an epiphany process."

"Is it going to wear off?"

Again, he restrained himself from groaning in annoyance. "No, it will not. I have always loved you," he said simply.

It was enough to quiet her.

* * *

As he was walking out of his meeting with Fury, she called him on his phone. "Hey babe," he answered.

"Hey." She sounded a little tense. "Do you think you could run over to my apartment and grab me some clothes while you are out?"

"I can. Why do you need clothes?" He smiled to himself.

"My clothes from yesterday are burnt and ruined and I can't run around in your t-shirt all day."

"I don't see why that would be a problem." He was being intentionally facetious, testing her to see if she would get annoyed.

"Well," the sigh in her voice told him that his objective had been met, "there just happen to be swarms of reporters around the house, trying to find you, and unfortunately, it is made out of _glass_ so I can't approach the perimeter of the house without giving the five o'clock news an eyeful!"

"Okay." He climbed into his car and mouthed to Happy, 'Pepper's'. "Have you had a restful morning otherwise?"

"Kind of. I rebooted JARVIS-"

"You rebooted JARVIS? Do you know how to do that?"

"I am not stupid, Tony Stark. All of your wrestling around caused one of his plates to fall. I rerouted the wires around the damaged area. Everything seems fine. He says that he had a nice rest, but lost his ability to speak Russian."

It was slightly impressive that she knew anything about Jarvis or how to change wires. He figured that most of her talents lied in administration and disciplining himself He supposed that after years of watching him, she might have picked up some technological skills. "Well done, Potts."

"I've been trying to clean up as well, but I just don't think it can be done. It's an impossible task, even with the help of dummy and the suit."

"You put on my suit?" How daring. He was almost offended, yet still impressed by her curiousity and boldness.

"No. I wouldn't do that. I was just saying that, even if you could remove the heavy debris with the suit, there's still so much damage to the house that it might be beyond repair."

"I'll figure it out." He always did. Happy pulled up in front of a brick apartment. It seemed simple. "I just realized that I've never been to your house, Pep."

"You have not," she knew. "What do you think?"

"I don't know. I'm not in yet."

"It's apartment 3C," she told him.

"Should I break in?" He didn't have a key.

"Just use the key under the rug."

He growled a little in discontent. Did she realize how unsafe that was or did she just not care? He approached the building and walked up two flights of stairs to the third floor. The door opened easily with the key and he went inside eagerly. This would give him the chance to know more about her.

Inside, the apartment was very simply decorated. There was lots of wood, and...almost no technology. No tv, no ipad, no JARVIS. She didn't have any computer system. The most amount of electricity in the house was in the single lamp in the apartment.

He flicked it on. He memorized everything about it...drew in everything that was inherently Pepper.

"Tony?"

He forgot that she was on the phone. "Yeah. I'm here. It's nice." It was so _modest_ compared to his tastes. "I'll pick you out some clothes and I'll be back."

"Okay," she sounded slightly concerned at his sudden change in mood, but he didn't really care. It wasn't harmful to her so she had no reason to be worried. If anything, he was falling even more in love with her. He ran his finger over the books on the book shelf, and peeked through the cabinets in her kitchen. Nothing too interesting. He moved his pursuit into the bedroom, where he was supposed to be, looking for clothes.

Her bed wasn't made, which surprised him. She had a large number of business suits in her closet. He picked out a pair of jeans from her chest of drawers and a flannel button up. There were not many personal belongings in her room- just a bottle of perfume, a picture of her family, and some business magazine. He trifled some more through her closet. Under a pair of folded leggings, he found what he was looking for- a picture of them laughing together. He got it out and set it on her dresser in open space where she could look at it and not have to hide. "I love you," he murmured to her picture.

He felt guilty that she'd been so emotionally attached to him over the years while he just played with her feelings. He called her back. "Let's just stay here."

She laughed, "None of your favorite toys are at my apartment."

"I'll survive if I have you."

"Quit whining. We have to clean up this house. Get back here!"

"Fine." He got up and exited her apartment. "I'll see you in a few."

"Bye."

As soon as she hung up, he called one of his security developers at Stark Enterprises. "Hi, it's Tony Stark. I'm going to need two digital combination locks of six characters each to be mounted and functional on a door of an apartment. These locks need to change every day. You can e-mail me the combinations." He gave them Pepper's address and climbed back into his car.

He needed to be beyond certain that she was safe.


	3. Chapter 3

Warning: Extraordinary amounts of fluff in this chapter.

* * *

Pepper couldn't sit in her uncertainty, of course. She wasn't one to avoid problems either, but the conflict within her about Tony would take time to solve and process. She busied her hands with cleaning and her mind with analysis of Tony Stark and how their relationship had changed in the past couple months.

Then, she heard his voice, booming from the front door.

"If you don't calm down, I'm going to have to get the suit out!" he threatened humorously to the crowd of reporters outside.

She held her breath in anticipation. She loved him because he was so entertaining, but it also made her nervous that he could do something to embarrass her.

"Now, I'm going inside because I have a hot date, and you'd better be out of here by the time I got back!" She heard the crowd roar and hid behind the door. It opened and Tony let in a rush of cold air.

He took off his sunglasses and Happy followed him, shutting the door behind him.

Happy spotted her first. "Pepper! Glad you survived last night."

She nodded and Tony turned around, his arms held out. "Baby!"

She was not a fan of his attitude. She knew the crowd had riled him up and his ego had swollen. "Darling." She said, sarcastically.

He frowned at her and kissed her cheek. "Miss me?"

She wasn't used to this- him kissing her when he returned. They were in a relationship and he had every right to kiss her whenever he wanted. It was weird though. She never expected him to want her, and it surprised her every time. "Yes..." she said cautiously. "I got a lot done though. I scheduled a press conference for tomorrow and Rhodey is coming over soon to talk over what you guys are going to say. I've already made an outline. And I started to clean up the workshop, but I didn't get much done."

"Hey. This is my day off," he complained. "I freaking saved the world yesterday. Give me a break."

"The world doesn't take a day off. They want answers today. It's hard enough to wait until tomorrow."

He was obviously thrown off by her professional tone. "Whoa, geez. What happened?"

"Nothing." She said, short with him.

"Happy." His voice also lost its playfulness. "Could you excuse us for a moment?"

"Yep."

"Wait, Happy," She rubbed her forehead in thought. "Could you also call a contractor to see what we can do with the gaping holes in the walls?"

"You got it, Miss Potts." Happy winked at her, offsetting the formal tone in his voice, and left.

Tony led Pepper to the couch by her elbow and sat them both down. He rested his elbows on his knees. "What's going on, Pepper?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just stressed out by how much I have to do. Nothing out of the ordinary." She let her head fall into her hands and then felt his hand on her knee. She looked up.

"Let me know what I can do to help." His thumb traced over a scar on her knee.

She placed her hand on top of his and held it. "This is weird. I don't know what to expect out of...what we're doing."

"Then don't expect."

"I have to."

"Why?" She watched the wheels turning in his head as he answered his own question, "You aren't sure if you can trust me. You think that expecting the worst out of me will cushion the blow when I hurt you."

It made her sound like a bitch, but it was true. Her fears were real and she considered them valid. He hadn't changed in the twenty years that she'd known him. Why should he be any different now? Would he be able to put someone else before himself? "I have my doubts," she admitted.

He allowed his other hand to come up and touch her cheek soothingly. "Pepper, I can't bear to hurt you or see you hurt. It kills me."

"Then why all those women over the years? Why did you treat me like you didn't care?"

"I couldn't let _you_ hurt _me_." He was holding her head even closer to his now. They were speaking face to face. "I thought I didn't have a chance because you were so concerned about your job and being professional."

She still was concerned about those things, but she was reminded that she was lonely and she did love him and she really did want a relationship with him. "Okay."

She must have not seemed convincing enough because he followed up her comment with, "Let's get one thing straight, Pepper. I would lay down my life for you. No exceptions or caveats."

'Oh, shit,' she thought. She knew, that with an admission like that, there was no turning back. She couldn't pretend any longer that he was not interested or just jerking her around. She reached up and brought his face to hers, kissing him. He turned his body to press her into the couch and removed his hand from her cheek to grab onto the cushion behind her, making his kisses even more forceful.

All of a sudden, it felt like someone had set her on fire. Her whole body was flushed. She needed to get some air. She broke the kiss and his mouth went to her neck. "Tony," she said, "I feel a little out of control."

He laughed and nuzzled into her neck, his mouth not leaving its spot. She knew he had to feel how hot she was.

"Seriously. We need to slow this down." She placed a hand on the back of his neck and felt that he was just as warm as she was. "What if someone walks in?"

"I don't care," He moved his hand under her shirt and stroked around her stomach to her back. She moaned, but then felt embarrassed that such the littlest touch made her aroused.

"It's my house," Tony continued, "I am going to have sex with MY girlfriend on MY couch if I want."

Once she became fully aware of his intentions, the warning signals in her head went crazy. "Whoa." She pushed on his shoulder until he moved to sit back upright. She realized that she was still holding onto his hand, their fingers laced together. Her muscles in her hand were clenched tightly and both of their palms were sweating. She let go of his hand and flexed her fingers. "Sorry." She took a few deep breaths. "I'm not thinking at all."

She looked at him. He was unglued at well. His hair was a mess and he was sweating and his eyes- they were confused and lusting and darker than she'd ever seen them.

"You normally have calculated, thoughtful sex?"

She didn't want to lie to him, but she figured that maybe the truth about her sexual past would just never come up. She'd hoped that they'd never have to deal with it, but that was stupid. She couldn't imagine telling him.

"No," she said, hoping that they could drop it, and move on. She shouldn't have stopped him.

"Just let go a little. It's just me." He kissed her again, less hurried and it made her feel better.

However, that was the problem. It was _him_ and she wanted it to be perfect, but it could never be. If he knew the truth, maybe it'd be better. At least then, he wouldn't be shocked when he first...did whatever he was going to do. She let him lay her down on the couch. "Just be careful, and know that it's been a long time for me, since I've done anything like this."

"Oh, okay." His demeanor completely changed and she hoped he wasn't disappointed. He pressed soft kisses to her upper chest. "How long?"

"A while." She breathed deeply and ran her hands through her own hair.

"A month?" His hands lifted her shirt up and kissed her stomach.

"Hmmm..." She rubbed his upper back. "More like as time approaches negative infinity."

He looked up, "Never?"

She looked away. "It doesn't matter. Just keep going."

He inched his way back up. "I don't believe it. That's physically impossible. You're gorgeous."

She still wouldn't look at him. She couldn't believe that she told him. "Well, I've spend the last twenty years catering to YOUR every need, so if you could cut me some slack..."

"You've had plenty of opportunities..." he said.

"I don't have enough time to be in a relationship." She turned her head back, but gazed at his shoulder. "And I'm not stupid enough to have a one night stand and get pregnant-

"Condoms-" he interrupted.

"Or have some guy stalking me-"

"Really?"

"And," she looked at him finally, "I kind of had a thing for you."

"Well, that's...reasonable." He pushed himself forward to kiss her and the entire length of their bodies rubbed together.

He touched her a lot more gently now, one hand curving over her breast, the other trying to reveal as much of her skin as possible.

"Maybe this isn't the best time or place..." he started to say.

Curiosity got the best of her and she inched a hand to his pants and ran the tips of her fingers over the erection straining against his jeans.

"On the other hand," he finished, "maybe it is." His urgency quickened and he pressed the bulge into her hand.

"Oh, God," she said. He was resting his weight on her entirely, and it felt so good, so safe. 'This is really going to happen now,' she thought.

There was a knock at the door, and then the doorbell rang.

"Fuck, no," he said. He grabbed her hips and ground his pelvis into her.

"Mmm, no," she said, whining. "We have to stop. I hate it, but we have to. That's Rhodey."

They heard the door open.

"No, Rhodey, no, no, no," Tony said. He sat up. Since the door faced the back of the couch, Rhodey couldn't see all that had been going on, and he couldn't see Pepper, who was still lying on the couch.

"Brought your toy back," she heard him say.

Tony waved him away. "Could you just leave it on the floor and come back later? Thanks."

Rhodey paused, and she heard the clank of metal against the floor as he took a few steps forward. "Pepper?" He asked.

Pepper sighed, and sat up so he could see her. She ran her fingers through her hair. "Yes?"

"Why did you ask me to come over and do business when, clearly," he emphasized, "it was an inopportune time."

She stood, once more, embarrassed. She knew it would be a common emotion for her if she kept dating Tony. "I didn't KNOW it was going to be an inopportune time thirty minutes ago."

"CLEARLY," Tony mocked Rhodey, "it is an inopportune time, so you should just leave."

"No," Pepper said. "You guys have to work on this. The conference is tomorrow, and I have a lot to work on anyway."

"Pepper," Tony whispered.

She ignored him and retrieved the iPad from the side table. "Your draft and my thoughts are on here."

"Pepper." Tony yanked on her until he could whisper in her ear. "You can't just leave me like this."

She looked down at his pants briefly. "Why don't you just think about your grandmother?" She whispered back.

"Why don't you just accompany me to the bathroom?" He stood up behind her, so Rhodey couldn't see his erection.

She didn't know why he was making such a big deal about this. Rhodey was a guy...he would understand.

"Give us a few minutes?" He asked Rhodey, pulling her along to the bathroom.

"I can just come back," Rhodey offered.

"No!" Pepper held her ground. She refused to go with him. She turned to face Tony, and said quietly, "You go to the bathroom and take care of yourself and I will stay out here with Rhodey and wait for you to get back."

"No. I want you with me."

She was NOT going to have sex for the first time in a bathroom, nor was she in the mood anymore with Rhodey staring at them. "Turn around," She grabbed his shoulders and twisted him around and shoved him towards the bathroom. He waddled awkwardly towards the door.

"Come on in, Rhodey," she said with a smile. She watched as he avoided sitting on the couch, choosing a chair far away instead.

"Pepper!" She heard from the bathroom and rolled her eyes. "I need you to come check on something."

"That's it," Rhodey stood up like he was going to leave. "I'm going to come back later."

"No!" She sat him back down. "I'm sure whatever he wants will take no more than about _five_ seconds," she said.

She took her time as she walked to the door.

"PEPPER POTTS!" She heard from inside the bathroom, "If you don't get in here in TWO seconds..."

She opened the door and shut it behind her. He was leaning against the counter with the sink. "There you are, my dear," he kissed her cheek, his mood reversed now that she complied with him.

"You are so stubborn!" Her attitude towards him had only worsened. "You always have to get your way, only thinking of yourself! There is NO way I am having sex with you in this bathroom, so you'd better-"

"I don't want to have sex with you," he interrupted, "-in this bathroom," he thought again, "-right now." She watched as he unbuttoned his pants and unzipped them. "I just wanted you to have the chance to meet the _iron _part of me." He pushed the band of his boxers down and pulled out his cock.

Her mood cooled down and she laughed, "So, this is Ironman?" He was so arrogant.

"Yes," He grabbed her hand and put it on him.

She smiled and rubbed her thumb.

He moaned and rested his head on her shoulder.

She moved her hand over him, exploring his skin. She felt him swell and pulse. "Ironman likes me," she said.

"He's kinda sorta crazy about you," he confirmed.

"Rhodey will be getting impatient," she said, taking her hand off of him.

"Fine." He replaced her hand with his. "I'll be out in a sec,"

She put her hand on the door knob and gave him her best seductive look. "Are you going to think about me?"

He laughed, "Of course."

"Do you need some inspiration?" She really didn't want to leave him.

"Yes...but no..." he said, "I wouldn't be able to let you leave."

"Okay." She kissed him. "We'll be waiting for you outside."

"Okay."

She left and shut the door behind her. She was relieved to see Rhodey still there, but the image of Tony and his 'Ironman' was still burned into her mind.

* * *

A/N: I was so confused when I didn't see Ironman in movies...I didn't even know there was a comic section on ! My world has just expanded! :]


	4. Chapter 4

Tony was almost certain that Pepper was trying to torture him. She'd scheduled the press conference bright and early in the morning, and he hated mornings.

Pepper had fallen asleep early the previous night, and gotten up on time. After getting ready, she'd dragged Tony out of bed.

He tried to be more agreeable than usual, on the basis of being a good boyfriend on the second day in their relationship. She seemed to appreciate it, but she'd been back to professional Pepper- something that annoyed the heck out of him, and made him want to push her boundaries.

While Rhodey gave his talk, he sat next to Pepper quietly in the front. Rhodey was talking on and on about the defense tactics that they used in defeating the drones and why there was no need for concern for other attacks. Tony put his arm on the back of Pepper's chair. He felt her shift slightly. Touching her wasn't out of the ordinary during a meeting or press conference, but he knew that she was getting nervous.

He put his other hand on her knee, just to test her. Reflexively, she pushed it off.

"Hey!" He whispered.

"Seriously. Not the time." She didn't even look at him.

"Are you embarrassed about our re-"

"Shhhh..." she interrupted him with a loud hiss. "I just think it's kind of dangerous for people to know...that."

"What? Oh." He actually hadn't considered that in the whirlwind of what had happened in the past few days. He hadn't thought about the implications of what it meant for her to be with him. Being his girlfriend _was _dangerous. Even when he wasn't a superhero, people hated him. He began a complicated plan in his head for how he was going to protect her.

In a few minutes, Pepper was nudging him as Rhodey had just introduced him. He stood up quickly and made his way to the podium.

"So the expo has been canceled because Justin Hammer's drones blew it up. We at Stark Industries with not be held accountable for the inventions destroyed. When technology is entered to be shown in the expo, a liability contract is signed, and exempts us from all financial responsibility. Now, should you seek some sort of compensation for your loss, I would suggest you check out Hammer in jail. Anything else?" He thought to himself and then remembered, "Oh. Right. Stark is not pursuing any new projects right now. Any questions?" He didn't want to waste anymore time in this press conference. He had better things to do.

He looked at Pepper. Her expression was neutral, which he supposed was good. Better than her glaring at him like she usually did. She had no reason to be mad. He'd pretty much read off the script she'd given him.

A woman in front raised her hand. "Who are you dating?"

"Excuse me?"

"You said that you were on a date yesterday. How'd it go?"

Everyone laughed, except Pepper.

"It was great." He said shortly. "Next."

"Who's the lucky girl?" Someone else shouted.

He took a deep breath, deciding the best way to answer. "We have decided to keep our relationship private to-"

"A relationship? Is it serious, Tony?"

He didn't want to look at Pepper. He was already sweating, knowing that he was in trouble. "Yes," he said. It was serious and he didn't want them to think anything else. "Moving on."

He glanced at Pepper. She looked horrified, her eyebrows wrinkled in worry.

"How does she deal with all your women, Tony?"

Rhodey stood and started to say, "Okay, looks like we're all out of..."

Tony stopped him. "That was a little rude, don't you think?" He said to the reporter. "There are no other women. Not anymore."

"So who is it?"

They wouldn't leave him alone, and he was just getting angrier with their prying questions. He didn't want to endanger Pepper by revealing her identity, but he couldn't stand it, and he wanted the whole world to know how lucky he was. "I am dating...the most beautiful woman in New York. Thank you and good night."

Rhodey dragged him away.

* * *

"Why did you have to say that? Now everyone is in suspense and they won't stop asking questions." Pepper was hissing in his ear, per the usual, as they high-tailed it out of the conference room.

"I'm sorry. I can't control what comes out of my mouth."

"Yes, you can. It's very easy."

"How long are you going to be mad at me?" He pressed his hands to his head, feeling the stress of the conflict before him. He couldn't stand when she bugged him about what he said in press conferences. What he said didn't ever matter- just that he kept up with his image and what they expected of him. What was done was done, and he couldn't change what happened or what he said in the past.

"At least a day."

"That's not going to work. I need to have a serious talk with you."

She halted her grueling pace. "You want to be serious?"

"Yes. I only have ten minutes of seriousness before I combust so take advantage of it." He ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm all ears."

He looked around. People were everywhere, surrounding them, and the media would be excused from the press room soon. "Not here."

She was silent as he wrapped his hand around her arm and led her to the limo. They sat across from each other as Happy began to drive.

She stared at him. "So?" She snapped.

He did not appreciate her tone when all he'd done was the best he could at concealing their relationship. Sure, he'd made some unnecessary comments, but overall, he'd managed to keep it under wraps. She was always nit-picking at him, and he couldn't tell her what he wanted to say when she was _annoying_ the shit out of him.

So, he said nothing.

"Really? You drug me out of the conference where I could have had more time to talk to reporters and improve Stark's image to say nothing." She crossed her arms.

He crossed his arms too, making fun of her and she relaxed, looking out the window. "You just don't want to share. This is NOT going to work if you think that I'm going to be by your side twenty-four-seven-"

In an instant, he was across the limo, kneeling between her legs. "You're right. I don't want to share." Possessiveness was actually only a minor part of why he pulled her out of the press conference. He realized that he hadn't even considered her wishes when brought her to the limo. He wanted to leave, and had selfishly assumed that she would follow, as she usually did. But that was back when she was still his PA. Now, she was the CEO, or would be for a few more days, and his girlfriend.

In order to make it clear to himself, he reassured her, "I'm sorry. I will not expect you to be with me all the time, as much as I'd like that. If you want, we can turn around and go back."

He saw her resolve breaking, her eyes fluttered and deepened in sadness and guilt for making him feel badly. But she remained rigid and tried to hold the cool in her voice. "That's ridiculous. We're already on the road."

"Don't give up on us. Just don't." His hands crawled up her stomach to join hers.

She allowed him to hold her hands for a few minutes before curling her arms around his neck and kissing him. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that. I just- I hate the silent treatment. I was just trying to get a rise out of you."

"Good to know," Tony said under his breath. He appreciated her honesty, but was still feeling the effects of the adrenaline pumping through his body. Hearing her doubt their relationship sent panic running wild through him, and it had only been a day. They rode back to the Malibu mansion with Tony's face pressed into her stomach and his arms hugging her waist. She ran her hands through his hair the whole drive.

"Here," she announced when they'd arrived at the Stark mansion.

"Is it all right if we relocate downstairs? More privacy that way." He took her hand.

"Yep." She was settling down into her mood. The mood he loved- the gentle, life-giving, hopeful, beautiful woman he knew. He loved their banter and her independent spirit as well, but it was fucking exhausting and he didn't want to argue today.

He brought her into his workshop. There was about 20 men still lifting and disposing of debris.

Tony asked them all to leave and come back in 30 minutes, ensuring that they would all be paid for that time. He and Pepper sat down in separate chairs and Tony moved his chair closer to hers, tucking one of his knees between hers. "So we need to talk about where Stark is going."

"You are voluntarily talking about business? Who are you?"

"I can't provide for you if my business is in the trash." He realized he had earned all those jabs at his lack of work ethic by his behavior in the past. Nevertheless, it was getting tiring, trying to prove himself to her.

"I'm not in this for your money."

He knew she wasn't. If she was, she would have tried to get into his pants long ago. She wouldn't have stuck with him. Still, he pretended not to know this, "You're not?" He said jokingly. He believed her, to an extent, but he also believed that if he continued to screw up and lost everything, that the stress would get too much for her and she'd leave. "I want you to decide and dictate the future of Stark Industries."

She blushed and looked down, speechless for a moment. "I'm not the CEO anymore. I have no experience or understanding..."

"But you have passion and ideas. Want to feed starving children in Africa? I'll build you something, make it happen," he said, as if there was no challenged greater than what he could accomplish.

"You can feed children and you've been letting them starve for years? Isn't that inhumane?" She retorted.

"I was super busy building the suit."

She narrowed her eyes at him, annoyed, and then said simply, "I want green energy."

The most boring application she could have picked. "The arc reactor? We've already done that."

"It's not safe. I want it to power a building with people in it."

"Anything that hold a lot of energy isn't safe." He wasn't trying to shut her down. The critiques just came easily to him.

"Not if you can maintain and disperse it."

It just wasn't plausible to him.

She continued, "They have a cooling tube. They made it in France. It would have to be huge, but you can build it."

"But that defeats the purpose, how does-"

"The electric field is still there," she said, reading his mind. "Once you kick start it, it should be able to power itself." She grabbed a stray iPad from a nearby table, and pulled up the article on the cooling tube quickly.

"Hm," He thought. He didn't like that there were bigger and brighter ideas out there, and he'd _missed_ them because he was playing with his suit. Nevertheless, the research she'd done was impressive. He realized that she knew what she was talking about. She understood the science.

Her intelligence wasn't anything new. She'd often offered her opinion to him when he was tinkering in his workshop, but he never considered it. She knew about science and it was hot. "Okay..." he said.

"What? What's the problem?" She withdrew slightly, a concerned look on her face.

"Nothing. I'll propose it to R&D."

"Then why are you acting weird?" She leaned forward, placing a palm high on his knee, her fingers curling onto his thigh.

He nearly broke out into a sweat. Just her touch sent the blood rushing to his groin. He tilted his head to kiss her. Their knees and thighs hugged each other. "You're brilliant," he told her between kisses.

She gasped for air and slid onto his lap, straddling him. He wondered what made her so fearless.

"Brilliant," he repeated, knowing that she liked hearing that. "I had no idea." He was so sorry that he'd ignored her for so long.

She pressed her pelvis down and into him. Her skirt was completely ridden up, and he could feel the heat from her thighs and between them entrapping him.

Then Tony saw him. One of the construction workers had come down early from his break. A bite of sandwich was in his gaping mouth.

"Shit. Um, Pepper?" He nudged her, and she followed his eyes to the worker who was backing away.

She squeezed his shoulders and he felt her press into him urgently. Then, she moaned and he felt himself harden.

She was getting off on being watched. He loved it. She liked getting caught with him, and this knowledge was doing insane things to his sex drive.

He probably would have continued, but he remembered that this would be her first time and not the time or the place. Especially in front of someone else. And he didn't really like some guy staring at his girlfriend anyway.

She brought herself off of him and pulled down her skirt.

He rose with her, the bones in his legs cracking at he got up. Moving with an erection was uncomfortable, and he was pained in having to stop before he found release. The construction worker had almost escaped. Just as he was nearly out the door, Tony yelled, "Hey!"

Tony limped over to him, trying to be discrete. Pepper was in tow, their hands clasped together. The guy froze, "I didn't see anything."

What a liar. "Yes, you did." Tony pulled his wallet out. "How much is it going to take for you not to go to the press?"

The guy cracked a smile, "You might want to get your checkbook out."

* * *

"That's ridiculous," Pepper told Tony back up in their room. "We cannot be yielding to men like him. We'll just have to tell the press about our relationship."

"We'll just not get caught again." He collapsed on the bed.

"Fine," she said, sharply. Then, her mood changed and she flopped playfully on the bed with him. "How's Ironman?" She cupped him through his pants.

"Ah," he let out a breath in surprise. "He's a little sad right now." Tony's erection had wilted in the process of writing a ten thousand dollar check.

"Oh," she said, seemingly devastated. She pressed her hand into his pants, trying to feel him through the fabric.

After she had fumbled around for about a minute, he unbuttoned his pants. "Here." He shoved them off his hips. Her touch and attention felt good, but he was distracted by wondering if the construction worker would actually keep his word, or if he was repeating a detailed description of Pepper's legs to his buddies right now.

Tony's preoccupation didn't deter Pepper. Once his dick was free and in her view, she explored. She touched all along his skin, trying to memorize what it was like. Her fingers traced up and down him. She lingered at his balls, feeling their weight and texture. She noticed what made him harder, and what didn't seem to affect him.

About ten minutes in, Tony noticed that he was aroused. It was a strange feeling, sneaking up on him. He'd only ever experienced a white hot flash of lust whenever he was in the mood. This feeling, the anticipation building in his stomach, was more like dark chocolate, delicious and exotic.

She moved her face to get a closer look, brushing her cheek across his pelvic bone. Then she laughed.

"What?" He murmured.

"You tickled me," she said, scratching her chin, and then running a hand through the hair at his groin. He tried to keep it trim, but today it was a bit unruly and he wondered if she cared.

"Sorry," he said.

She muttered something, but he couldn't hear it because she was pressing kisses into that thatch of hair, and then everywhere except where he needed.

He let his fingers slip through her hair, feeling the silkiness. He knew then that he didn't want her to blow him- he didn't want to come in her mouth. He wanted their first time together to be _together_.

She wrapped a hand around his dick and squeezed hard. He groaned and he felt her mouth at the base, sucking.

"Fuck." He reached to bring her hand off of him, but she wouldn't let go.

"Trust me," she said, squeezing again.

Oh, man, it kind of hurt, but it felt so, so good. She licked all the way up his length.

"Not your first time doing this, huh?" He remarked.

"Not your first time either." She shot back.

He was slightly disappointed. If she was going to be a virgin, he wanted her completely pure, with no experience. "How's come...Ah...you give blow jobs but you don't have sex?"

"You can't get pregnant from a bj. And..." she hesitated, "it's less personal." She didn't take her eyes off of him as she talked.

"Okay." He wasn't satisfied with that answer. He preferred to know the first, middle, and last names of every man she'd been with sexually, just to make sure they were out of the picture. She wouldn't appreciate that though, and when her mouth was sliding over his cock, he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize her affection for him. "I don't feel like this is less personal."

"That's because I-" she stopped herself, "because it's you." She glanced up at him briefly before returning her gaze to his length, now quite slick and sliding through her hands. She squeezed her palm around him again.

Watching her focus so intently on him was hot, but he felt a little like a project, like a conquest. He willed himself not to think so much. "Hey Pepper."

She looked up. He pulled her hair out of the ponytail it was in. "Come up here." He held his hand out to her. She took it and he used it to pull her up. He kissed her, and feeling her so close put him in a haze. He stroked her cheek and her chin with the tips of his fingers.

"Tony," she said. "Now."

"Now?" She wanted to have sex now. He was incredibly hard and in love with her, so he figured it was as good as a time as any.

"Yes." She got off the bed.

"You're wearing too many clothes. I don't like it."

"Working on it." She shucked off her jacket and untucked her shirt from her pants. She worked on unbuttoning it and he figured he should do something as well. He pulled his t-shirt over his head and kicked off his pants. He looked back over her and she was stepping out of her skirt. He stared. She had just her bra and panties on and ran a hand through her hair nervously. She knelt down on the bed and climbed over him. He maneuvered her so that she was straddling him. The wetness he felt on his lower stomach made him smile. She kissed him and her hair fell down in his face. His hands ran over her whole body- over her breasts, down her stomach, around her legs.

"Tony, can we just...do this?" She had her eyes closed and her lips seemed to be all over his face at once.

"Yeah. Are you okay?" Her body was shaking a bit.

"Yes. I just want you." She opened her eyes.

He sighed deeply. He needed to have control, for her sake. He didn't want to go too fast, but she was making it impossible. He held her and flipped them smoothly.

"Oh," she seemed surprised.

"Okay?" He was barely resting on her.

"Yep. I'm fine, Tony."

He sucked on her shoulder, wanting to take his time, but knowing that it was just building up nervous anticipation in her. He stopped after a minute, and let his hand wander down her hip and between her thighs. Her panties were pretty much soaked through, which was a good sign. Sex would be less painful for her. He dragged them down her legs and it took him a while as he marveled at their length. Everywhere, she was so smooth. On his way back up, he had to stop and taste her. He licked the wetness off of the inside of her thighs, and then dipped his tongue in her. She was so wet and so sweet. He pressed his face into her, hard.

"Tony," she said, breathlessly.

He looked up at her.

She put a hand in his hair and tugged upward. "I really like what you're doing, but I want you. You, you, you," she repeated as he slid a finger in her.

She was frustrated and he kept getting distracted. Or maybe he was putting off having sex with her because he thought he might hurt her, and he hated that thought.

In having sex with her, there were a lot of variables that he couldn't quite predict. He didn't know if she would orgasm or if she would enjoy it. How much would it hurt her? What was she thinking? How long would he be able to hold out? He hated being unsure, but he knew he had to continue.

"We can always stop if you want to." He crawled back up to her.

"I don't want to. Stop, I mean." She gripped his arms tightly. "Do you not want to do this?"

"No," he moved his thumb over her hip. "I don't want to hurt you."

"I know. I'm sorry." She covered her face with her hands. "I should have just had sex before this."

"No," he repeated. "I'm glad you didn't. It won't be that bad. I just don't really know. I've never had sex with someone who's never had sex before."

"I'll be fine," she assured him.

He felt her hand on his cock again, stroking. He was going to come if she didn't stop. He usually didn't have this much foreplay. "Okay, okay, okay." He pulled her hand off of him, and nudged her legs apart with his knees. She took the hint and spread them further.

"I'm going to go hard just once, and then I'll stop until you say go again," he warned her.

"Yeah, okay." She brushed the hair from her face, and kissed him. "I'm ready."

He thought for a moment, ran through all the doubts in his head as he lined himself up with her. Then, in an instant, he turned all of his thoughts off and thrust shallowly. He didn't know why he did that when he told her he was going all in. He supposed he was nervous and needed to test her body out before he committed to the act.

She had a confused look on her face, and he realized he messed up. He lied about what he was going to do. Hating himself momentarily, he tensed all his muscles and drove into her.

He watched the expression on her face turn from confusion to shock to pained all in a second. She pressed on his scalp so his face was buried in her shoulder and he couldn't see her anymore.

He'd definitely felt her stretch, and something tore. He was thankful that his motion had been fairly smooth because she'd been so wet.

"Hmmmm." He heard her moan.

"Still okay?" He hoped.

"Give me a minute."

He lifted his head to look at her, but she pressed it back down, saying, "No."

He kissed all of the skin that was available to him, and felt her flex her muscles. Ohh, that felt good. "Pepper, I love you. Ironman loves you too, a lot."

"You're just saying that because we're having sex," she hissed.

"No, I'm not."

"Thank you." She kissed his neck. "I'd prefer to say it back...later."

"Sure." His head fell onto her shoulder, and he tightened his arms around her. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

"It's not that bad." She shifted her hips. "You can keep going."

"Are you sure?" It hadn't taken her very long to adjust.

"Yeah."

"I want to see you."

"Why?"

"Because you're beautiful." He turned his head and their cheeks bumped. Hers was wet, and she had a hand covering her eyes. "I'm sorry, Pepper."

"I know. Keep going. It's not that bad. It was just the shock." She gave him a smile.

"Mmm'kay," he said, disbelieving. He pulled out of her and then thrust again. He noticed that he caught her by surprise again. He looked at her.

"Fine," she gasped. "More."

He began a slow, slow rhythm. After a few minutes, he said, "Talk to me. What do you like?"

"Um." She raised her hips, and he hit her at a new angle. "There. I want it there. And faster."

He helped her hold her hips up, and complied. He tensed up to avoid his own orgasm, trying to hold off now that it was looking favorable that she might come with him. "Do you think you will...?"

"I don't know..." she whined and moaned. "Oh. It hurts but..."

He couldn't distract himself anymore. He got lost in the way she felt against him. The lace on her bra scratched against his chest. All of the smooth skin pressed against his. The slope of her belly. The curve of her neck. The wet heat trapping him in, squeezing him. "Fuck." He dropped her hips a little in favor of making it easier on him to thrust. Faster, faster, he thought. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on.

His deep groans mixed with her high-pitched squeals and he knew that someone could probably hear them outside, but he didn't care. He didn't care about anything but her and how she was so slick...hot...tight. She was amazing, searing him, holding him so tightly that he could barely pull out of her anymore. "I'm gonna come," he said, "beautiful."

"Close," she alerted him.

If he could just hold one for one more second...he reached between them, and rubbed her clit in deliberate, harsh strokes. "Mm..damn...Pepperbaby...I'm..."

Her pussy pulled at him impossibly tight and he let go, spilling into her. He knew nothing, could perceive nothing, but her squeezing him. He closed his eyes and collapsed onto her. He didn't know how long he laid on top of her, but he knew that he had given everything to her. The first thing he consciously noticed, post-orgasmic was her whispering, "I came."

He congratulated himself, and then rolled off of her, onto his back. He pulled her down into his side.

"That was great," she said, and kissed his chest. She gave him a small hug and then rose up.

"Where are you going?" He groaned, still recovering.

"It's the middle of the afternoon. I have to get back to work." She stood, and then fell forward, back on the bed. "Whoa."

"This is why you need to stay in bed." He pulled at her wrist.

"There's blood on the sheets, Tony. We need to get cleaned up."

He looked down. He hadn't even noticed. "It's fine." He pulled the sheets up to cover the stain. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah. You're a stud." She smirked, sat up against the headboard and started to run her hands through his hair.

He froze, a dreaded though passing through him. "Are you on the pill?"

She groaned, "No."

"We didn't use a condom." His blissful mood was ruined.

"I can't believe I could be so stupid," she whined, "I'm careful about everything! I just wanted to get it over with, and I wasn't thinking."

"Get it over with?"

"No. It was so much better than I'd expected and I'm so glad that I did this with you. I'm so sorry, Tony. I messed up. I'll get the morning after pill right now."

"It's fine. I got carried away too. I should have asked you about it." He knew the guilt was getting to her, and with all the hormones flooding her post-coital, she (and he) could easily get worked up for nothing. "Let's just not worry for a few more minutes, and then we can get up. It won't make a difference." They needed to enjoy this moment, for their sanity.

She frowned. He sat up with her, and then brought her to lie down with him, facing him. His thumb rubbed over her cheekbone and she relaxed. He stared at her. "Don't leave me."

"I won't. I won't ever." Her fingers graced his lips and he kissed them. "Did you have fun?"

"Are you serious? It was- you are...there are no words, Pepper."

"Good enough to do again?" She smiled.

"Of course." He didn't understand how she could even ask that.

"Good," she nodded. "Next time, I'll be able to-"

"You were perfect," he interrupted. "Stop worrying."

"Okay." She leaned forward and kissed him. "You were perfect too."

"I know."

She grinned wider than he'd seen her yet. "Ironman was fantastic."

"He appreciates that." He touched along the side of her torso. "You treated him very well."

"He deserves it." She scooted closer to him. "No one has paid attention to him in a while?" She asked.

"No one but myself." He laughed. "Since before Afghanistan."

"That's a long time."

"You've waited longer." She blushed, and he gazed at her. He was so lucky, head over heels for her. "I want to be the only man you ever have sex with."

"Tony Stark. You are so high off of your orgasm."

"I'm serious. I can't even think about another guy looking at you."

"It's called oxytocin. It causes jealousy to run rampant through you, and makes me want to gush about how in love I am. It'll wear off."

She didn't understand. He knew about his biological function and such, and how they diminished the significance of how he felt. But Tony had a lot of sex in the past. He'd had a lot of oxytocin highs, and he still kicked the women out of his bed. This woman, he never wanted to leave his sight, and she'd only see that in time. "You're a cynic. And in love with me?"

"Maybe. Let's see when the endorphins wear off. Then I can be sure."

* * *

A/N: Thank you SO much for all the wonderful reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. I sat down to write a short one, and that didn't happen. I will hopefully be wrapping it up in the next chapter because I NEED to start getting stuff done in my life.


	5. Chapter 5

Sore

Pepper was trying not to be dramatic, but it wasn't working. It was the day after she'd slept with Tony for the first time, and she was sitting in her office, and she _couldn't _move. Pepper liked to think that she had a pretty high pain tolerance, but her entire pelvis ached from the inside out. "Damn," she muttered, shuffling around her paperwork.

She'd re-sorted the same stack five times, unable to concentration on anything else. She tried to motivate herself, thinking that she'd worked when she was way sicker.

Actually, the pain wasn't what kept her from focusing as much as knowing that people could see her wince every time she moved, which provoked questions, and she had to lie. She'd whimpered on her way into the limo in the morning, and Happy had asked her if she pulled a muscle.

She told him it was an intense cardio session without stretching after, and Happy had believed her- until Tony shuffled in behind her with the biggest grin on his face that she'd ever seen.

As a result, she was desperately avoiding Tony today.

He found her in her office a little after noon. She hadn't gotten up from her seat yet. Usually, she'd walk around Stark, checking up on everyone personally. Not today.

"How's it going?" He shut the door behind him.

She wanted to ask him if his cheek muscles were cramping from smirking. "I'm fine. Just taking it easy."

His eyes twinkled as he approached her. "I'm trying really hard to feel sorry that you're in pain."

Obviously, he wasn't. He was still smiling, and it frustrated her. "No. You're ecstatic that you're such an incredible lover that I can't walk."

"Shh, Miss Potts. Can't have any of that talk at work." He stepped forward to her desk. He placed a package of Tylenol on it with a bottle of water. "I brought you this. Are you still sore?"

"Can you tell?" She snatched the bottle, and downed two pills with a swallow of water.

He made his way around her desk. "I really am sorry. The Tylenol will help."

She looked down, wearily. "Thank you." She took a deep breath and stood, squeezing her muscles together. He helped her up. "It's not bad. I'm just reminded of you every time I move."

"Hm." He raised his eyebrows. "I like that."

She looked up at him. "Are there cameras in here?"

"Video, no audio," he said. "Technically, I'm the only one authorized to see them, but I think the video feeds get hacked on a regular basis, and if I put any extra security on yours, well...that would look bad."

"Oh. No audio?" She leaned dangerously close into him. "I want to have sex with you again." She frowned inwardly at herself. It was kind of a tame statement to make, and if she was going to talk dirty at work, she didn't want to do it half-heartedly. "I mean, I know it would hurt, but I haven't been able to think about anything else the _whole_ day and I'm so wet, and I can't do anything about it."

"Pepper." He had his eyes closed and then opened them, and blinked. "I really want to kiss you right now. Do you think we could take the risk...?"

She pulled him forward and pressed a kiss to his lips softly. "There. That could have been a kiss between friends, right? No one has to know how hard you rode me last night."

"What are you trying to do?" He looked helpless, near the point of crying.

"I'm trying to show you what I've been thinking about all day. But I can't because people are watching, so I have to tell you. I have to tell you that no one has ever made me this crazy before. You are the first guy, Tony, who has made me come that hard and I can't get it out of my head." She blocked the camera with her body and put ran her fingers over the ridge of his erection

"Pepperrr…" He covered her hand with his and squeezed tightly.

She tried to move her hand a little, but he had such a snug grip that all she could do was move her fingers a little over him. "You're the only guy who makes me soak through my panties, and my skirt, and onto my _newly _upholstered chair, and…" she made a breathy moan and shifted towards him, "you're the only one who will ever know what it's like to be inside me."

He made a sound that was like a groan and a cough mixed together, and his body spasmed. She felt wetness on the hand that was grazing his crotch, and now it was her turn to smirk.

"Oh, God." He collapsed backwards, onto the floor.

"Tony!" She knelt with him, forgetting about the pain between her legs. "Don't bump your head." Her desk had a lot of sharp edges, and she checked his arms to make sure he hadn't scratched himself in his fall.

"I have…so many thoughts right now, but I can't articulate any of them." His forehead was sweaty, and she brushed some of the sweat away with a tissue from her desk. "I can't believe that just happened."

"Me neither." She'd been feeling a little self-conscious about her inexperience, but knowing that she could bring him to orgasm with just her words was empowering. "We weren't very subtle," she said, mildly concerned.

"Do you think the sex will always be this good?" He asked.

"Yes." She had faith in them. "How do you feel? Are you comfortable?"

"No. I've got semen smearing and…" It dawned on him. "Oh, so that was your master plan? Make me as uncomfortable as you are?"

"Mmmhmm, are you enjoying it?" She touched his shoulders, trying not to give too much away.

"I am. Feel free to make me uncomfortable every day. Multiple times." He shifted his legs. "I need to go change. Let's take the day off."

She smiled. "I can't. We've already had three days off."

"One more." He was leaning forward to kiss her again.

"No, people might see," she warned.

"Don't you want to get off?" He tried to persuade her.

"Yes." And she couldn't think of a good reason not to. She was devoted to her job, but it wasn't like she was getting anything done.

"Let's go then."

She stood up. She didn't know what was getting into her. "This is the only time I'm ever going to do this."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Pepper." He scrambled to his feet. "I swear, I won't tease you again. That's a lie. I mean, I- I can't make any promises but let's just go."

She practiced walking around the room without a limp. She could probably make it.

"You have to walk normal, because I will be trying to hide this…" he gestured to the stain on his jeans. "And one of us has to look sane, and that's usually you."

She nodded and opened the door to usher him out. He came up behind her. "No. I'll walk directly behind you and if someone passes us, you have to block their view, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan," she smiled back at him, and it was _so _difficult not to kiss him.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked. "I don't want to pressure you into anything. I know how you looove to work."

"I'm sure."

Pregnant

"JARVIS?" Pepper asked sweetly and quietly. "Is there any way you could run a pregnancy test for me? Is that in your programming?"

"It is, actually," He replied, "I have the capabilities of a functional medical facility. I simply require a urine sample."

She let out a breath. She really didn't want to get caught buying a pregnancy test. She didn't think she was pregnant, but she wanted to be sure. Her accident with Tony had happened a few weeks ago, and in order to feel less guilty about her carelessness, she needed to know that there would be no consequences to her actions. "Where's Tony?"

"Downstairs. Yelling at an innocent for moving his desk."

"Okay. Let me know if he is coming up here," She snuck into the small medical suite in Tony's house.

"I will, Miss Potts. Plastic cups are in the upper right drawer."

"Thank you, JARVIS." She retrieved one and went to the bathroom to pee. When she was finished, she asked, "JARVIS, where do I put this?" She held it away from her.

"Back in the medical suite, there is a machine with a syringe, and it will deliver your urine to my system."

"Okay." She went back to the suite and placed the syringe in the little cup. "You're not disgusted by this?"

"Please, Miss Potts. I have been in contact with Mr. Stark's urine exactly forty-three times. Also, as an AI, I do not feel the emotion of disgusted."

"Oh, right." She paused, "Can you tell me, JARVIS, has Mr. Stark ever had a pregnancy test done before? I mean, obviously not for him..." She blushed, "but for his lovers?"

"I have never monitored the level of hCG in Mr. Stark or any of his sexual partners."

"Oh, good." That gave her some relief to know that Tony didn't have a kid running around. She imagined that a man with so much sexual history had a few pregnancy scares though.

"Miss Potts, Mr. Stark is approaching the suite."

"What? Oh!" She said in surprise. Was there any way that she could hide what she was doing? She was embarrassed, and didn't want to worry him.

"Pepper!" Tony approached her with a towel in his hands, wiping something off of them. "JARVIS said you're having a pregnancy test done. Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's not a big deal," she tried to brush it off. "JARVIS!" She growled at him, "Could you be any less discrete?"

"Mr. Stark has instructed me to update him on the details of your well-being. I thought this was relevant."

"I thought we were in the clear," Tony ignored JARVIS, and looked concernedly at her.

"I think we are. I just want to be certain," she said. "And please don't monitor me."

"If you're taking a pregnancy test, I deserve to know."

"You were busy."

"That's an excuse."

"I'm sorry!" She pouted. "I'm humiliated that this happened to us."

"Yeah, it happened to us. Not just you."

She could try to make him understand how she felt responsible for this, but he would not understand.

"Miss Potts?" JARVIS interrupted her thoughts.

"Yes?"

"You will be thrilled to know that your test is negative."

"Yes!" She threw her arms over Tony in relief. "I thought so. We'll be okay."

"I suppose that's good," he said, a little less thrilled than she was.

She was confused. She couldn't imagine him wanting children, but the tone of his voice sounded like he was disappointed. She would have asked him about it, but he was already angry with her, and she knew that conversation would lead to an even bigger argument. "You're happy, right? With just me?"

"Yeah," He shook his head, seemingly trying to clear his thoughts. "When JARVIS told me you were taking a pregnancy test, I had a flash of paternal instinct." He smiled, "it's gone now."

She ruffled his hair. "Okay, just making sure." His admission spurred a slew of fantasies about Tony as a dad, and she shelved them for later. "Now let's go see what we can do about your workshop."

3. Move

Tony paced his kitchen. "It's been a month and the house is _still_ in shambles. What are they doing all day?"

"I don't know," Pepper peered through her glasses at Stark Industries expense reports. "The state of your mansion is not my top concern right now."

"Well it should be. I can't get any work done." He stabbed a bite of his eggs that she'd fixed and chewed them obnoxiously.

"You have over one hundred laboratories around the world," she reminded him.

"But there are idiots in those labs that distract me."

She wouldn't even look at him.

"Pepper. Pay attention."

She sighed, putting aside her papers to focus on him. "Have you talked to the contractors about it?"

"Yes. They keep telling me that the house is structurally compromised."

"Tony!" She pounded her fist on the counter in frustration. "Then, it's dangerous to even be in here!"

"It's fine. I wouldn't put you in danger. They're wrong. They clearly know nothing about architecture…" He waved his hands in the air. He had JARVIS do the calculations. With the current support, they were absolutely fine. Now, if two more of the columns holding the house up were destroyed, then they might have a problem. But he'd fly Pepper out of there before it collapsed.

"I don't want to stay here anymore. I don't want YOU staying here. You can come live with me temporarily." She picked up her paper again.

"I love your apartment." He grabbed her hand and made her look at him again. "But we can't stay there permanently."

"That's why I said temporarily," she said with an annoyed tone.

"If I live with you, I don't think I could go back to living by myself," he said.

"Yeah, probably not," she mumbled, and then clarified, "I mean, I couldn't do that either."

"So," he deduced, "we should just live together…or not."

"Yeah," she nodded.

He wasn't sure if she wanted to live with him. She wasn't saying anything against it, so he suggested, "I want to build a place for both of us, where we can be extremely happy."

"I am extremely happy," she told him. "Even though it doesn't seem like it sometimes. I promise, I am."

"So you don't want to live with me?"

"No! I do."

Finally, she gave him a confirmation. "Okay." He thought for a minute, closing his eyes, then snapping them open. "What do you think about this-" He waved his hands as he talked- "we take out the top two levels of Stark tower- completely remodel them, and make it our home. I can use part of it as a workshop. You can have your office right by your bedroom…"

"Okay! You don't need to convince me. I just have one stipulation…" She bit her lip and smiled. "Power it with clean energy."

He sighed. It would take a lot of work, but he knew it was important to her. "I can't say no to you," he leaned forward and kissed her.

4. Suit

"I need to talk to you about something," Tony said. His thoughts had been spurred on by the mission he'd gotten back from recently. He hadn't told her, but he was starting to suspect that word was getting out about their relationship. Right before driving an armor-clad hand through his opponents face, the villain had mentioned Tony Stark's weakness. He had threatened Tony with information on a man who was seeking to destroy Tony's love, Pepper Potts. At the time, Tony believed it was just a way for the man to negotiate a few more seconds of life, but as he flew home, the fretting increased until he was absolutely obsessed about protecting her.

"Is it about the way you've been acting the past couple days?" They were in her apartment, eating mac 'n cheese and watching Jeopardy.

He was off his game, being distracted by her, and thoughts of someone harming her. "Yes."

"You haven't left my side. Did something happen on your mission?" She cuddled into his side and traced the arc reactor under his shirt with her finger.

"Yes, but that doesn't matter," He muted the television. "We need to talk about what happens when you get captured."

"When? Am I in danger?" She pulled on his chin and made him look at her. Her eyes were wide in fear.

"I have hundreds of enemies, and, as much as I'd like to, I can't be with you all the time. So it will happen…" It made him sick to think about. He looked away.

"Tony." She touched him on the face. "It's okay. You're not the only security we have. I'll be fine."

"I know," he said angrily, "as soon as it happens, I will come for you and get you out of there."

"That's comforting…" she said, her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "Why are you telling me that?"

"I just don't want you to have any doubts," he cleared his throat, "and I want you to know what to do. This is very important. They most likely will not hold you for information. They will just use you to get to me, and it will work but I will make you safe. Talk to them. Tell them everything about yourself while you wait for me. And you do everything in your power to get out of there, even if it means leaving me behind."

"No. I won't."

He groaned and bowed his head. "You have to. We can't do this unless you promise me."

She shook her head.

"Promise me. I have to be sure." he urged her, "Promise me or we can't be together."

She took a deep breath in and grabbed his hands. "I promise."

He sighed in relief, "Good." He felt a lot better now. Pepper always kept her word. "Now, I have something else. It's not meant for you to come with me on missions or use in any circumstances other than in defense…I built you a suit, Pepper."

5. Jealousy

"She is, without a doubt, the craziest person I've ever met!" Pepper exclaimed. "I am going to kill her, Tony, I really am."

They were watching television when Monica Snow, one of the brightest, most beautiful actresses in America, had claimed, on live television, that she was dating Tony Stark.

"She is out of her mind!" She paced around the couch of their new living room.

"Pepper," Tony was trying to calm her down, but not really because he was laughing.

"I hate her!" She waved her arms around in anger, and accidently knocked a vase over. "Damn it!"

"Uh-oh." Tony got up. "Dummy! Clean-up?" He stepped carefully towards Pepper and helped her bare feet avoid the shards as Dummy swept up the mess. "Why are you so mad? You know it's not true."

"She's infringing on your personal boundaries and telling lies about you!" She had never felt like this. When he had women over before, she could just close her eyes and imagine they weren't there, but now, she was so tied to him in every way that she couldn't ignore that someone else could take him away from her.

"It's good. If people think that I'm dating her, they'll leave you alone."

She knew she heard him wrong, but her insecurity couldn't help but twist his words around. "You want to date her?"

"No, Pepper! I want you to be safe."

She sighed loudly, as if she wasn't done being mad yet, but she didn't want to talk about it. They listened as Monica explained, "We were trying to keep it under wraps but…" she blushed, "we're just so in love."

"Come on!" Pepper screamed.

"It's a publicity stunt. I'll deny it." She felt his fingers brush against her arm. "I've never seen you like this. It's hot."

"I don't feel hot. I feel like there's a sexy, famous woman who wants you and would probably be better-"

"You're the best," he interrupted. "I don't want anyone else."

Nearly a week later, he was scheduled to appear at a movie premiere depicting the adventures of Ironman. It wasn't about Tony himself, but Pepper figured it would be good publicity for him to show up and approve of the movie. That was, until she found out that Monica Snow was going to be there, and she decided that she needed to attend with Tony.

"You're not going as my girlfriend," he told her.

"Fine," she said with a snippy tone. "I just want to have an excuse to claw that woman when she hits on you."

"If she hits on me, I will ignore her."

She didn't say anything. "I'm going to get dressed, and I'll meet you in the limo."

It took him roughly an hour to get ready, and JARVIS alerted him that Pepper was waiting for him. He grinned at himself in the mirror one last time before riding the elevator down Stark tower.

Her dress…and lips and heels he realized later- were cherry red. Her hair was longer and fuller, the curls curving around her breasts and upper arms. Her legs were stretched sexily across the limo.

"Wow," he said as he climbed in. "Drive slow, Happy."

"Hey." She looked down, breaking her ruthless woman façade.

The engine revved as he whispered, "Hey," before kissing her.

She wouldn't let him press his lips to hers for more than a second.

"Stop teasing, Pepper," he told her.

"I'm trying not to ruin my lipstick."

"I want to. I want you." He tightened his arm around her and leaned in again.

"Seriously, Tony." She pressed on his shoulder. "I need to tell you something."

"What?" He stared at her. Her freckles were covered up by makeup, but it made her skin look so pale and creamy and he just wanted to be close to her.

"You know Keith Spencer?"

"He's playing me, well, Ironman in the movie. Why?"

"I'm his date for the premiere."

He separated himself from her, shoving her almost roughly. The energy from his lust escalated to fury in a matter of seconds. "We are in a relationship, and you are going on a date with another man. That's cheating." He was so angry- he couldn't even look at her.

"I can't go with you," she crossed her arms. "I wasn't going to let you go alone with _her_ there. It's not even a romantic date. It's for publicity."

Now, instead of looking like the sexiest women on the planet, she was the devil, playing with his heart. "I can't believe you did this to me."

"I just have to take a picture with him. I'll spend the whole night with you." Her façade was crumbling and her resolve was breaking.

"You are my date. You are my girlfriend." He looked out the window.

"I am. This doesn't change anything." She paused, picking at a hangnail. "Are you going to talk to Monica tonight?"

"We'll do more than talk," he shot back before he could think.

"I know I may have acted impulsively and unintelligently in deciding to be Keith's date, but that was cruel.

"You're cruel."

"Oh, good comeback."

"At least I'm not a cheater."

"I just wanted you to see how I felt about Monica. I think you're being a little ridiculous, and I'm sorry." She sniffed and he saw her eyes tearing up, "I don't know how I can make it better."

He couldn't stand watching her cry. "Fine." He'd enjoyed her jealousy up until now, when it landed her in the arms of another man. "We'll just get through this tonight, and then it will be over."

"Tony…" she scooted closer to him and snuggled in his side, scratching his chest with her bright red fingernails.

"No." He held his hands out, not touching her. "You're going to get makeup all over my suit."

She silently moved to the other side of the limo and when they got to the premiere, they had composed themselves.

"I'm getting out first," Tony told her.

She shrugged.

Happy opened the door, and Tony stepped out. He waved and smiled at the cameras as he stepped forward, heading in.

Keith Spencer was waiting for them. In order to avoid confusion with Tony and to dismiss any ideas that the movie might be about Tony's life, he was cast because he looked the exact opposite of Tony. Tall, blonde, lean, and clean-shaven- he was the perfect picture of a gallant superhero.

So tall, Tony noted again as he stood next to Keith. Keith reached out to shake his hand, saying, "Thanks for letting me borrow your assistant tonight, Stark."

Tony did not take his hand. He stared at him and frowned and walked away to the cameras. He heard shrieks and whistles as Pepper got out of the limo and he itched to get away further and into the arms of another woman. He resisted. He knew he loved Pepper, and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He _knew_ that and it was tearing him apart to see her with Keith.

He glanced back at them, smiling at the cameras. It didn't seem like there was anything going on, but he didn't like it. He felt the bitterness welling up in him and he decided to look for Monica.

He found her, getting her picture taken at the bar. He walked up to her, smiling.

She seemed surprised to see him, but quickly recovered. "Darling!" She said halfheartedly, to see if he would cooperate.

"Hello." He raised his eyebrows.

She got down from her seat and approached him. "I didn't know you would be here. The movie isn't about you…"

"Well, it is about Ironman." He remained stiff as she pressed into him. "I can't believe your publicist didn't warn you that I would be here," he said cheerfully, remembering that they were on camera.

"Yeah, they really fucked up," she said under her breath. She leaned forward to kiss him, but he blocked her mouth with his hand.

"Sorry, sweetie, I hate PDA."

"Whoa!" One of the cameramen shouted. "Is Tony Stark turning over a new leaf?!"

"He is!" She purred, stroking his chest.

It reminded him eerily of how Pepper had touched him earlier. He craned his neck to see what she was doing.

She and Keith were talking, not paying any attention to the cameras any longer. He had his arm around her, watching her with great interest.

Tony couldn't endure this. He became more seething by the second. He left Monica with a vague excuse and paid off a waiter to tell Pepper that Tony Stark required her presence in the lobby of the theater.

He hid out of sight as he watched the waiter approach her and give her the message. She nodded, with a forehead wrinkled in concern and detached herself from Keith.

As soon as she was out of sight, he walked up to Keith. "Hey, buddy."

Keith, thrown off by Tony's change in demeanor, replied cautiously, "Hello."

"Walk with me." Tony nodded his head in a direction that was more secluded, away from the paparazzi. "So, what do you think of Pepper?" He looked up at Keith. He was so fucking tall.

"I like her," he said simply.

"That's unfortunate," Tony commented. "Here's what's going to happen- you tell her that something came up- you can't sit with her, can't talk to her anymore. Make up something about a tabloid or a girlfriend or something. I don't care."

"No." Keith said, "Why would I do that?"

Tony had expected resistance from Keith, and truthfully, he really didn't have a plan. He just knew that he couldn't stand to see Pepper with him anymore. "Because I will kill you if you touch her again." Obviously, it wasn't true, but it was what Tony wanted to do.

"Okay." Keith said quickly.

"Okay?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. You scare the shit out of me, man," he said, lowering his voice. "I won't- Pepper!"

Tony looked behind him, and she was walking towards them. She seemed a bit angry.

"Tony." The tone of her voice confirmed her irritation. She started to say something to him, but Keith interrupted.

"I have to go." He glanced at Tony, fearfully, and then back at Pepper. "SorryPepper,youcan'tsitwithmebye," he said in a rush, turning on his heel and leaving.

Pepper put her hands on her hips and glared at Tony. "You said you were meeting me."

"That's what you're mad about?!" He breathed a sigh of relief and they went into the lobby of the theater, where the reporters weren't allowed. He felt more comfortable talking to her inside but other celebrities were still watching them.

"I thought you stood me up, and that you'd left me here, with him." Now, she crossed her arms defensively.

"But I didn't," Tony supplied.

She placed a hand on his chest, and moved inward, and he placed one arm around her, a hand on her back. "Thank you, thank you for fighting for me. I was worried that you'd just let him…do whatever he wanted with me."

"No, no. Of course not," he said, although that had been his first plan of action.

"I told you that I am yours, Tony. I mean that."

He hugged her closer than would be considered friendly, but he didn't really care anymore what people thought.

Unfortunately, someone did notice.

Monica tapped him on the shoulder. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Tony had to admit that Monica was a very beautiful woman- before Pepper, one who he'd be thrilled to bed- but she was a horrible actress. She didn't sound angry at all…obviously she was just talking to them for the sake of appearances.

Tony was about to wave her off when Pepper calmly said, "Would you please excuse me for a moment?" She left his grasp, and he watched her walk away, his mouth open in hurt.

All that talk about Pepper clawing Monica's eyes out, claiming Tony as her own…it had gone out the window. He wondered what happened to her sexy jealousy. He was stunned that Pepper wouldn't fight for him like he'd done for her. It struck him that it might be his past, all the women so similar to Monica that might have driven her away. She was afraid of a repeat performance. As hurt as he was, he wasn't about to fall into his previous habits. "Listen, Miss Snow…"

Monica slinked up to him, wrapped an arm around his neck, and pressed her lips to his.

He pulled away. "No." He wiped his lips off. Gross. She tasted like crayons and vodka. "This isn't going to work."

"Noooo," she protested, pressing her breasts into him.

The premiere hadn't even started and she was already drunk. He couldn't judge her- he'd been in the same spot many a time. Still, he held her at arm's length.

Then, he watched as a metal-gloved hand wrenched her from his grasp. He turned around and stared at his creation for Pepper.

Pepper's suit was blue and slender, but otherwise similar to his. She hadn't practiced much with it, and the public had never seen it, so he felt nervousness bubble in his stomach.

"Who is this?" Monica asked.

Tony stepped away, unaware of her plan and in shock.

Pepper, in her suit, picked Monica up by the waist and flew off.

"Well…that was unexpected," Tony said.

The paparazzi fought their way into the room to question him. "Is that a new suit, Tony? Who's flying it?"

"I-" he had no words. He couldn't tell them the truth, and he couldn't tell them that they didn't know, or else the new suit might be seen as a threat.

He felt a hand on his shoulder-a large, encompassing hand, belonging to Keith Spencer.

"No better way to introduce his new Ironman suit than at the Ironman premiere!" He explained. "Now, it's being flown by one of our stuntmen in the movie. He's de-programmed all the attack mechanisms from the suit, right, Tony?"

Not as stupid as he looks, Tony thought, beginning to actually be fond of Keith. "Absolutely. Don't get too excited though. It's not nearly finished. Just wanted to show off the new…color scheme."

"Is this just a ruse to get Monica back at your place, Tony?" A chorus of laughter came from the other reporters.

Tony shuddered. "The opposite, actually. We just broke up and I didn't want to have to deal with her."

All the women growled and the men laughed.

The security of the theater was getting anxious with all of the reporters in the lobby. They started to push people back to the outside. Tony waved at them and thanked Keith. Then, he saw her. Pepper was pushing her wild hair into a more manageable style, breathing hard. She seemed embarrassed.

He rushed to her. "Where's the suit?" He whispered.

"With Happy."

"I can't believe you did that."

"I can't either." She kept running her hands through her hair, obsessively.

"You're not going to fix it. It looks fine. Where's Monica?"

She stopped pulling at her hair, and settled for wringing her hands. "On some roof."

He laughed.

"What? She'll find her way down eventually." She was uncharacteristically unconcerned. "What did you tell people? What are they saying?"

"Mr. Stark." A large man with an entourage walked up to them.

"Yes?" Tony protectively stepped close toward Pepper.

"What the hell was that? You had no permission-"

"Who are you?" Tony interrupted. He felt Pepper tense.

"Darian Pierce."

Tony peered at him questioningly.

"The director," he sighed.

"Oh…okay. Well, before you say anything, I have to compliment the work of your publicity team. That suit was brilliant. Looks just like the real thing."

"Excuse me?"

"The new suit. It was great publicity for the movie, no?"

"I guess…" Darian said. It was difficult to read his expression because he was wearing sunglasses.

"People will be expecting a sequel already. With the new suit! Makes me look good too, so thank you," Tony smiled at him.

Darian nodded, and relaxed. "We do have a good publicity team."

"So, you might want to get inside before the movie starts?"

"Yes," Darian nodded again and left. His crowd of fans followed him.

"That was close," Pepper turned in his arms to face him.

"I wasn't sweating it." He clasped his hands on her upper backside, his pinky fingers moving over her ass.

"You get away with everything." She fidgeted uncomfortably. "People can see."

"I don't care." He shook his head at her with a grin on his face. "Let's go. We got our pictures taken. We don't have to actually watch the movie."

The way he pressed against her made her give in. "Are you sure? Don't you want to see how badly they depicted your suit?"

"Nah. I've got better plans."

6. Ring

Tony led her out of the premiere, their hands clasped. "I can call Happy," she offered, reaching into her clutch for her blackberry.

"No, let's just walk."

He seemed on the edge about something. "Is everything okay?"

"I just want some privacy," he grumbled. Most of the fans had left, but there were a few stragglers. Luckily, all of the press was inside the theater at this point, getting ready for the movie to start.

There were whispers as they left. They were the only ones on the red carpet at this point besides the clean-up crew.

As they neared the exit, people shouted at him, "Hey, Tony!" and "I knew you two were together!"

They waved and ignored them and walked out. No one came up to stop them. Tony picked up his pace, and she could barely keep up.

"What's wrong?" She started to worry.

"Nothing," he reassured her, smiling a little and tugging her faster.

"You're just saying that to pacify me." She looked all around, trying to spot something that was apparent to him. "We're in danger. We should've stayed. Happy has both of the suits. If something happens, we're unprepared."

"You have such little faith in me," Tony said. "I can defend you even without the suit. I'm Ironman," he said confidently.

"Look, honey," she pulled at him and stopped him, "I know you're a big, strong man, but I would really feel much better if…what?"

He was staring at her as if he wasn't listening to a word that she was saying. "I can't wait any longer," he reached out to touch her cheek as he led her into a quiet side street, where no one was around.

"What?" She was briefly afraid that he was going to try to have sex with her in the middle of a public street, but that didn't suit the mood that he was giving off. She wondered if they were, in fact, in danger until he dropped to his knees.

He pulled out a small box from his pocket and fumbled with opening it. "Marry me," he said, reaching for her hand.

Oh my… she couldn't breathe, couldn't think anything but 'I can't believe this.' She felt nervous and nauseous and excited, and…oh…dizzy. She fell back a little and he pulled at her, standing up to catch her.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I don't know." She remembered to breathe again, and looked around as she regained her footing.

When she could stand again, he sunk back down to his knees with the ring. He put it on her finger. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want everyone else to know it. So, marry me."

Her first thought was 'yes, absolutely', and then she realized how horrendously impulsive it was. She was just in the process of trying to figure out if she could trust him or not. "We haven't even said that we love each other yet."

"I did."

"During sex doesn't count."

"I love you."

"I hope so." He'd asked her to _marry _him.

"You don't love me?" He didn't ask like he doubted the answer, more like he was curious as to why she hadn't told him yet.

He was ruining his tux. The street was damp and dirty. "Stand up."

"Not until you say yes."

She groaned, covering her eyes.

"Why are you doing that?"

"I feel like someone is playing a trick on me."

"Why?"

She ran her thumb over his temple and pushed her fingers through his hair. She really wished that he would get up so she could have some time to process this. "I loved you for so long, and you never wanted me."

"Loved?"

She closed her eyes. "I still love you. Every part of me loves you." She wasn't quite sure what she meant like that, but it was the only way she could describe how she felt. How she felt about him was all-encompassing and consuming and frightening. She kept her eyes closed and waited. When she didn't feel him move, she opened her eyes.

He was still staring at her. "Marry me."

"I just told you that I love you. The chase is over," she said, as if he didn't realize what just happened.

He sighed in faux-relief. "Thank goodness. That was tiring." Then he got serious again. "It's not over," he said, confused. "Have I not given you enough proof that I'm never going to leave you? What else do you need, Pepper?"

She felt tears spill down her face. "I need to be certain that I'm enough for you, and I'm never going to get that."

"I'm giving you a ring."

"So, what does that mean? People get tired of their spouses all the time and they just get a divorce." She would never be able to recover from that.

"It means…." He thought for a moment. "I'm never going to stop pursuing you."

"I'm boring! And average." She hadn't meant to say that. She wasn't fishing for compliments, but her insecurities were real and bubbling to the surface.

"You are not even close to either of those things. You're extraordinary and exquisite."

'I am not,' she wanted to say, but refused to provoke him to compliment her further. "Of course, I'll marry you, but-"

He hopped up and kissed her. She was distracted by how safe he felt. She buried herself in him, allowed him to love her through his kisses.

"Mm. This is too good to be true," she said.

"I know. You're the love of my life."

She felt like she was melting. She couldn't believe he was saying these things to her. When he'd been romantic with her before, she'd brushed it off and not allowed herself to really experience all he had to give her. Now that she was certain of his love, it was almost overwhelming. She pressed kissed to his neck. "I love you." She stared at the sparkle of the ring on her finger. "The ring is really lovely."

"Thanks. Been carrying it in my pocket for a month."

She wondered if that was true. "Tony, I trust you completely, but are you sure about this?"

"Yep. Positive. Are you?"

"Yes." Finally, she was sure.

7. Capture

Like he'd predicted, she was captured within a month of their engagement, which they made public. When she didn't pick up her cellphone, he knew and called SHIELD. He had no idea who could've taken her and he was sick to his stomach several times before Fury came to Stark tower.

He demanded that Fury tell him what was going on, but Fury withheld the information until Tony calmed himself. Fury told him that he wouldn't be able to go by himself and that he would wait until they had a plan.

On that note, Tony destroyed several pieces of glassware in anger, and a wall. Eventually, he coaxed the location out of the new agents and took off in his suit. He didn't care if it was stupid. He was going to find her.

Unfortunately, SHIELD found out rather quickly and got JARVIS to shut down the suit and land it.

At this point, Tony was enraged, ready to beat Fury to a pulp, but Thor appeared out of nowhere and restrained him, as Fury explained that Thor, and several agents would help him rescue Pepper.

They took off. Their opponent was smart enough to be a thorn in Tony's side, but not smart enough to defeat them. With a well-placed decoy and surveillance, Tony located Pepper, and swept her up. Since he wasn't wearing his normal suit, she banged on him, shouting on and on that if Tony didn't make it out, she would have him killed. "He's my life!" She said. She started saying all sorts of things about their engagement and how much she loved him and wanted to be married to him. "You have to go back," she pleaded. "Drop me off here. I'm safe now."

He just tightened his grip, and when they were in the States, he skidded down in a field in Maryland somewhere.

"I hate you," she said.

He studied her. She didn't seem harmed, except for some rope burns. Mostly, her hair was dirty and there was sand everywhere. He pulled off his helmet. "Did they hurt you?"

"Tony!" She shrieked, jumping into his arms. She started to cry.

"Lemme take off the suit."

He pressed a button and the suit began to deconstruct itself. His new suit was blue, to match Pepper's. They were equally dirty, but he was sweatier. "You were not going to follow my instructions."

"What?" She asked, hugging him.

"You would have stayed and saved that drone in the red suit if you'd had your way."

"I thought it was you!"

"I told you not to save me!"

"I was so pissed," she remembered. "I thought you were just going to be left to die. Don't you ever do this again."

"Are you okay?" He checked over her skin again.

"I'm ready for a shower. Other than that, yeah."

He was beyond relieved that they didn't do any permanent damage. "Next time, it'll be worse." He said, pessimistically. "DO NOT try and save me, Pepper. If it happens again…"

"What? We're over?" She taunted.

"No. We're getting married." He promised her that he would never leave her. He was in a tough spot. "I'll be very angry with you." It was weak, but it was the best he had.

"I can live with that. I can't live if you die."

"You'll be fine. Plenty of fish in the sea."

"You're the only one I want. Plus," she added, "you've taken my purity. Now, I'm used goods…" she sighed.

He laughed at her ridiculousness. "Yeah I did," he sounded proud of himself. "But you're still as fresh as the day I met you." He leaned forward and bit at her ear.

"Only a month until I'm your wife," She reminded him.

"I can't wait. Let's get married now."

"No." She'd spent a lot of time and money on getting the place for their reception. All of a sudden, she fell down on the ground

"Whoa." He reached for her.

"I'm fine." She ran her hands over her hair in disgust. "Just exhausted."

"We need to get you home." He activated his wristband that put the suit into motion again whirring around him. "Did they let you sleep?"

"No." She placed her head in her hands.

He picked her up easily in the suit, her legs tucked in the crook of his elbow. She nuzzled the suit.

"Sorry it's not too comfortable. I'm going to fly us home now."

She didn't even seem to register.

"Pepper, you trust me?"

She opened her eyes, so he could be sure of her reply, "Definitely."

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the story!

Pepper and Tony are so amazing and fun to write!

I didn't want to drag the plot out, so this is it. But, in the spirit of Christmas, I will extend one of these 7 shots in this last chapter. Let me know which one you'd like to read!


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